Skyping with a Hero

Christian Heritage School students honored veterans recently and got to Skype with an active one.

At the school's annual Veterans Day assembly, Eric Lopez, a CHS alumnus, told the students to be thankful. Lopez is a U.S. Army Ranger with three tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. He is also decorated. He enlisted in 1996.

"It's great to be a part of this Veterans Day celebration," said Lopez, a battle commander in the 22nd Infantry in Afghanistan.

Lopez is training the Afghan Police and Army. "We try to make them a little better every day," he said. "We work hand-in-hand with the Afghans every day. We're helping them to fight [the Taliban]."

The police and soldiers under Lopez's command have found and detonated about 30 roadside bombs and found and destroyed more than 40 motorcycles, the primary vehicles of the Taliban.

"I'm doing great. I'm very proud of what my soldiers are doing," Lopez said.

"I really miss my wife and two boys," he added. "I'm ready to finish this thing up in February and come home."

"Cherish what you have at Christian Heritage," he told the students, faculty and veterans at the assembly. He's moved 10-11 times since joining the military, and lived in about seven states.

"We can't find anything like CHS. To all veterans, I thank you for your service."

Other veterans, like John Bakalar, were honored by their relatives. Lizzy Seaman, his granddaughter, said her grandfather doesn't call himself a hero, although he was seriously wounded twice, once in the Normandy Invasion on D-Day and again after he recovered from his wounds and returned to battle.

Bakalar, a volunteer with the elite U.S. Army Rangers, would say he was a "scared boy with a gun," Seaman said. 

"I know he will live on as a hero in my heart," she added.

Another student, whose grandfather was Gayle Charles Obrecht, said Obrecht's life was saved by a paperwork mixup. The ship he would have been on was torpedoed and sunk.

He stayed after the war and vaccinated concentration camp survivors, the student said.

He had a "caring nature and desire to help others," the student said. "Without you, none of us would have the freedom we have today."

The assembly also featured the music of the "Harmonica Man" and the CHS students.